Mobile client device wireless charging, communication, and authentication techniques

ABSTRACT

Mobile client device wireless charging, communication, and authentication techniques are described. In one or more implementations, a cursor control device includes an external housing configured to be grasped by a hand of a user and an input device module disposed within the housing configured to control movement of a cursor of a computing device that is communicatively coupled to the input device module. The cursor control device also includes one or more buttons accessible via the external housing that are configured to support user interaction to provide inputs to the computing device, a battery disposed within the external housing, and a power port disposed on the external housing and configured to charge an external device using power obtained from the battery disposed within the housing.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of priority of China Patent ApplicationSerial No. 201510215928.6 entitled “Mobile Client Device WirelessCharging, Communication, and Authentication Techniques” filed Apr. 30,2015, the content of which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

Users have access to an ever increasing variety of portable devices thatthe users interact with on any given day. For example, users may carry amobile phone and tablet, a portable music player, wearable devices(e.g., a watch, band, or other wearable), and so on. Further, thesedevices may include additional peripheral devices used to expand thefunctionality of the devices, such as powered noise cancellingheadphones, an active stylus, cursor control devices (e.g., a mouse ortrackpad), dedicated game controllers, and so forth.

This multitude of devices and the requirement of charging the batteriesof each of the devices may quickly become frustrating to a user. Thisfrustration may be exacerbated by proprietary chargers, or evendifferent types of non-propriety chargers, e.g., mini USB and USBType-C. Accordingly, a user may carry fewer devices, even though theuser may benefit from the added functionality provided by the additionaldevices.

SUMMARY

Mobile client device wireless charging, communication, andauthentication techniques are described. In one or more implementations,a cursor control device includes an external housing configured to begrasped by a hand of a user and an input device module disposed withinthe housing configured to control movement of a cursor of a computingdevice that is communicatively coupled to the input device module. Thecursor control device also includes one or more buttons accessible viathe external housing that are configured to support user interaction toprovide inputs to the computing device, a battery disposed within theexternal housing, and a power port disposed on the external housing andconfigured to charge external device using power obtained from thebattery disposed within the housing.

In one or more implementations, an apparatus includes a substrate, atleast one cable configured to obtain power from an external powersource, and an electromagnetic inductive coil formed integrally as partof the substrate. The electromagnetic inductive coil is configured toform a wireless coupling with external device suitable to communicatewith the external device and to charge a battery of the external deviceusing the power obtained from the external power source.

In one or more implementations, a method includes detecting by awireless charging mat that a mobile client device has been placed at adistance proximal to a charging and communication coil of the wirelesscharging mat to achieve a communicative connection. The method alsoincludes obtaining one or more credentials by the wireless charging matfrom the mobile client device that are usable to authenticate the mobileclient device and responsive to the obtaining, transferring the one ormore credentials by the wireless charging mat to a computing device suchthat the computing device is configured to authenticate the mobileclient device for operation with the computing device.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different instances in thedescription and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.Entities represented in the figures may be indicative of one or moreentities and thus reference may be made interchangeably to single orplural forms of the entities in the discussion.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an environment in an example implementationthat is operable to perform mobile client device wireless charging,communication, and authentication techniques.

FIG. 2 depicts a system in an example implementation that includes acomputing device, mobile client device, and wireless charging mat ofFIG. 1 as employing authentication techniques implemented at least inpart through communication supported by electromagnetic induction.

FIGS. 3A and 3B include a top view and a side view, respectively, of amobile client device of FIG. 1 as employing a mobile client devicecradle.

FIG. 4 depicts an example implementation of a cursor control device thatis configured to act as an external power source to charge one or moredevices.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a procedure in an exampleimplementation in which authentication techniques are performed thatleverage a wireless electromagnetic inductive connection.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example system including various components of anexample device that can be implemented as any type of computing deviceas described with reference to FIGS. 1-5 to implement embodiments of thetechniques described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

The number of mobile devices that a user interacts with continues toincrease, thereby increasing the amount of management a user performs inorder to keep these devices charged. Consequently, combiningfunctionality provided by disparate devices may have a significantimprovement in a user's experience with the devices.

Accordingly, mobile client device wireless charging, communication, andauthentication techniques are described. In a first such example,techniques are configured to support wireless charging of a mobileclient device (e.g., mobile phone) of a user. A wireless charging mat,for instance, is configured with a charging and communication coil thatsupports electromagnetic inductive charging of the mobile client device,e.g., to charge a battery of the device. In instances where the mobileclient device does not include a complementary charging andcommunication coil itself, a mobile client device cradle may be used.

Through support of wireless communication via the coil, a variety ofother functionalities may also be supported. In a first instance, themobile client device may act as a cursor control device, e.g., throughuse of the display device of the mobile client device as a trackpad orthrough tracking of two dimensional movement of the device as a whole inrelation to a surface. In this way, the number of discrete devices (eachwith its own battery) managed by a user may be reduced, therebyimproving a user's experience. Direct communication techniques betweenthe mobile client device and the computing device (e.g., without usingthe wireless charging mat as an intermediary) are also contemplated.

In another instance, the communication techniques are used to supportauthentication. Authentication may be used to login a user for access toa computing device, gain permission to receive power by the device fromthe wireless charging mat, and so forth. Other communication techniquesare also contemplated without departing from the spirit and scopethereof.

Further techniques are described in which a cursor control device isconfigured to operate as an external power source usable to chargeexternal devices. For example, hardware components used to implement theinput device functionality, e.g., to detect lateral movements, “clicks,”and so forth generally involve a relatively small amount of hardware.However, the cursor control device also generally employs a largeexternal housing such that the device may be readily grasped andcontrolled by a user's hand, which results in a significant amount ofextra space.

In this example, this extra space within this external housing isleveraged to include a battery having a size that is sufficient tocharge external devices, such as via an external power port disposed onthe housing of the cursor control device. In this way, functionality tocontrol a cursor of a computing device is combined with an ability tocharge external devices, thereby permitting the user to forgo use ofdedicated external power packs. Further discussion of these and othertechniques is described in the following sections and shown incorresponding figures.

In the following discussion, an example environment is first describedthat may employ the techniques described herein. Example procedures arethen described which may be performed in the example environment as wellas other environments. Consequently, performance of the exampleprocedures is not limited to the example environment and the exampleenvironment is not limited to performance of the example procedures.

Example Environment

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an environment 100 in an exampleimplementation that is operable to employ the techniques describedherein. The illustrated environment 100 includes a computing device 102,a mobile client device 104, and a wireless charging mat 106.

Computing devices that implement computing device 102 and the mobileclient device 104 are configurable in a variety of ways. For example, acomputing device may be configured as a computer that is capable ofcommunicating over a network, such as a desktop computer, a mobilestation, an entertainment appliance, a set-top box communicativelycoupled to a display device, a wireless phone, a game console, and soforth. For a mobile client device 104, mobile configurations suitable tobe held by one or more hands of a user are contemplated, such as mobilephones, tablets, portable game devices, portable music devices, and soon. Thus, the computing device 102 may range from full resource deviceswith substantial memory and processor resources (e.g., personalcomputers, game consoles) to a low-resource device with limited memoryand/or processing resources (e.g., traditional set-top boxes, hand-heldgame consoles). Additionally, although a single computing device 102 isshown in some instances, the computing device 102 may be representativeof a plurality of different devices, such as multiple servers utilizedby a business to perform operations such as a web service, a remotecontrol and set-top box combination, an image capture device and a gameconsole configured to capture gestures, and so on.

The computing device 102 is illustrated as including a variety ofhardware components, including a processing system 110, an example of acomputer-readable storage medium illustrated as memory 112,communication and power ports 114, and so on. The processing system 110is representative of functionality to perform operations throughexecution of instructions stored in the memory 112. Although illustratedseparately, functionality of these components may be further divided,combined (e.g., on an application specific integrated circuit), and soforth.

The computing device 102 is further illustrated as including anoperating system 116. The operating system 116 is configured to abstractunderlying functionality of the computing device 102 to applications 118that are executable on the computing device 102. For example, theoperating system 116 may abstract processing system 110, memory 112,communication and power ports 114, and other functionality of thecomputing device 102 such that the applications 118 may be writtenwithout knowing “how” this underlying functionality is implemented. Theapplication 118, for instance, may receive inputs via the operatingsystem 116, such as from input devices communicatively coupled to thecommunication and power ports 114 without understanding “where” theinputs originated or “how” the inputs are detected. The operating system116 may also represent a variety of other functionalities, such asmanaging a file system and user interface that is navigable by a user ofthe computing device 102.

The communication and power ports 114 are configurable in a variety ofways to support communication with external devices and may even providepower to the external devices, e.g., to charge the devices. Examples ofsuch configurations include USB ports (e.g., versions 1, 2, 3 andconnector types such as mini, Types “A,” “C,” and so forth),Thunderbolt®, Lightning®, and other types of configurations that supportcommunication of data and/or power in an amount sufficient to charge adevice.

The wireless charging mat 106 and the mobile client device 104 are eachillustrated as including respective charging and communication coils120, 122. The charging and communication coils 120, 122 arerepresentative of functionality to wirelessly transfer power and/orcommunicate over a wireless connection using electromagnet induction.The coils form an electrical transformer, such that the charging andcommunication coil 120 of the wireless charging mat 106 creates analternating electromagnetic field that is transformed by the chargingand communication coil 122 of the mobile client device 104 back into anelectrical current, e.g., to power and/or charge the battery 124 of themobile client device 104.

The charging and communication coil 120 of the wireless charging mat 106is formed as part of a substrate 126, such as a plastic or rubber likematerial. Power supplied to the charging and communication coil 120 mayoriginate from a variety of different sources. For example, a cable 128may form a wired connection with the communication and power ports 114of the computing device 102, such as to receive one or more amps ofcurrent from the configurations described above.

In another example, a dedicated external power source 130 is used (e.g.,a “power brick) that is connected to a wall outlet to get power. Thus,in this example a battery 124 of the mobile client device 104 may becharged by placing the device proximal to (e.g., resting on a surfaceof) the wireless charging mat 106 to form an inductive coupling. In oneor more implementations, the wireless charging mat 106 also includes abattery disposed within the substrate 126 having a size that is suitableto charge the battery 124 of the mobile client device 104, e.g., throughinductive charging and/or use of the cable 128.

The charging and communication coils 120, 122, may also support datacommunications. For example, an input device module 132 may allow themobile client device 104 to act as a cursor control device for thecomputing device 102.

The input device module 132 may be configured to output a user interface134 on a display device of the mobile client device 104, via which auser may control movement of a cursor and selection inputs (e.g.,“clicks”) in a manner similar to a trackpad. This data may then becommunicated to the operating system 116 and/or applications 118 tosupport user interaction.

In another instance, the input device module 132 may facilitate thedetection of movement of the mobile client device 104 as a whole. Auser, for instance, may grasp an external housing 136 of the mobileclient device 104 and move the device (e.g., along a surface of thewireless charging mat 106 in two dimension space or up and down in threedimension space) and have that movement detected by the input devicemodule 132 to control a cursor of the computing device 102.

The movement is detectable in a variety of ways, such as throughinternal sensors (e.g., inertial, gyroscopic, and so on), by leveraginga camera of the mobile client device 104 (e.g., to detect changes in apattern of the surface of the wireless charging mat 106), throughhardware from dedicated cursor control devices (e.g., image sensors),and so forth. In this way, the mobile client device 104 may be readilycharged and used to replace a dedicated cursor control device, therebyreducing the number of devices managed by a user. The communicationfunctionality may be leveraged to support a variety of otherfunctionalities such as authentication of a user, which is describedbelow.

FIG. 2 depicts a system 200 in an example implementation that includesthe computing device 102, mobile client device 104, and wirelesscharging mat 106 of FIG. 1 as employing authentication techniquesimplemented at least in part through communication supported byelectromagnetic induction. Like the previous example, the charging andcommunication coils 120, 122 support communication between the wirelesscharging mat 106 and the mobile communication device 104. A cable 128connected between the wireless charging mat 106 and the communicationand power ports 114 of the computing device 102 supports communicationbetween the wireless charging mat 106 and the computing device 102. Inthis way, the mobile client device 104 may communicate with thecomputing device 102 through use of the wireless charging mat 106 as anintermediary using electromagnetic induction, which may support avariety of functionalities.

In this example, the mobile client device 104 is illustrated asincluding credentials 202. The credentials 202 are communicated via thewireless charging mat 106 to an authentication module 204 on thecomputing device 102, thereby allowing a user to login to the computingdevice 102 via the mobile client device 104. This login may allow accessto user settings, configurations, and applications that correspond tothe user. In another example, the credentials 202 are used by theauthentication module 204 to control access to a charging functionalityof the wireless charging mat 106. In one configuration, only powersufficient for communication is initially provided by the wirelesscharging mat 106; after a successful login, the wireless charging mat106 may provide a sufficient amount of power to charge the battery 124.

In one or more implementations, the wireless charging mat 106 isphysically and communicatively coupled to the communication and powerports 114 of the computing device 102 to perform authentication, e.g.,using the cable 128. Pairing of the wireless charging mat 106 with thecomputing device 102 is semi-permanent until a new pairing sequence isrepeated. The pairing, for instance, may involve a password orverification of an ID to ensure that the pairing is legitimate. When themobile client device 104 is placed on the substrate 126 of the wirelesscharging mat 106, the mobile client device 104 initiates theauthentication process first with the wireless charging mat 106, and thewireless charging mat 106 then continues the authentication with theauthentication module 204 of the computing device 102, therebyeliminating the requirement separately entering an ID or password tologin to the computing device 102.

The credentials 202 may be input in a variety of ways. In one suchexample, the credentials 202 are input by a user to gain access to themobile client device 104. Once entered, these credentials 202 are alsoleveraged to gain access to the computing device 102 at a later point intime without reentry of the credentials 202. In another example, thecredentials 202 are input to the mobile client device 104 tospecifically request access to the computing device 102. A variety ofdifferent types of credentials may be input, such as using uniqueshapes, passcodes, use of biometric scanners of the mobile client device104 (e.g., thumbprint, facial recognition), and so forth. A variety ofother examples are also contemplated without departing from the spiritand scope thereof.

FIGS. 3A and 3B include a top view 300 and a side view 350, respectivelyof the mobile client device 104 of FIG. 1 as employing a mobile clientdevice cradle 302. In the example of FIG. 1, the mobile client device104 includes an input device module 132 that is usable to control acursor of the computing device 102. The mobile client device 104 alsoincludes a charging and communication coil 122 that is configured tosupport wireless charging and communication with the computing device102 via the wireless charging mat 106.

In some instances, however, the mobile client device 104 may not includethis functionality. Accordingly, in order to use the wireless charging,communication, and authentication techniques described herein, themobile client device 104 may be attached to a mobile client devicecradle 302. The mobile client device cradle 302 in this example includesa charging and communication coil 304 that is configured to support thecommunication, charging, and authentication techniques previouslydescribed. The mobile client device cradle 302 also includes an inputdevice module 306 that is configured to permit the mobile client devicecradle 302 to act as a cursor control device. A battery 308 is alsoincluded in this example that is usable to charge a battery 124 of themobile client device 104 when electrically connected.

The mobile client device cradle 302, for instance, includes an externalhousing 310 that is configured to mimic a cursor control device, andthus in this example includes left and right buttons 312, 316 and ascroll strip 316. The input device module 306 is configured to detecttwo dimensional movement of the mobile client device cradle 302 as awhole (e.g., through image sensors) that is usable to control movementof a cursor.

The external housing 310 also includes a plug 352 illustrated in phantomin the side view 350 of FIG. 3B that is configured to form an electricaland communicative coupling with a communication and power port 354 ofthe mobile client device 104, e.g. a USB port. The mobile client device104, for instance, may “snap in” to the external housing 310 of themobile client device cradle 302 and thus avail itself of chargingaccomplished using the charging and communication coil 304 in relationto the wireless charging mat 106 of FIG. 1, authentication techniques,and so on. The wireless charging mat 106 may also be used to charge thebattery 308 of the cradle and thus permit the mobile client devicecradle 302 to charge the battery 124 of the mobile client device 104even when an external power supply is not available for charging, e.g.,not plugged in. Other examples of power sources for charging of a deviceare also contemplated, an example of which is described in the followingand shown in a corresponding figure. Additionally, the cradle may alsoassume a variety of other configurations, such as to support a batterythat is removable from a mobile phone for charging by the cradle andonce charged is replaced back into the mobile phone.

FIG. 4 depicts an example implementation 400 of a cursor control device402 that is configured to act as an external power source to charge oneor more devices. The cursor control device 402 in this example includesan external housing 404 configured to be grasped by a hand of user in amanner of a traditional “mouse.” An input device module 406 is includedwithin the external housing 404 that includes user interaction controlfunctionality as previously described. As such, the external housing 404includes left and right buttons 408, 410 and a scroll sensor 412 thatare usable to support user interaction with the computing device 102 ofFIG. 1 to control movement of a cursor, provide selection inputs, and soon as part of the functionality of the input device module 406.

The cursor control device 402 is also illustrated as including a battery414 and power port 416. The battery 414 is secured by the externalhousing and electrically connected to the power port 416 (e.g., a USBport, Thunderbolt®, Lightning®, or other port) to provide power to anexternal device, such as the mobile client device 104, peripheraldevices, and so on through use of a cable, which may be formed as anintegral part of the cursor control device 402.

The battery 414, for instance, may be disposed internally within theexternal housing 404 to take advantage of available space within theexternal housing 404 that conventionally is not utilized in order tosupport the handheld configuration, e.g., to have a sufficient size tobe held. The battery 414 has a size that is sufficient to provide anamount of power to at least partially charge an external device, e.g.,at least 2000 mA. The battery 414 may be charged in a variety of ways,such as through use of the power port 416, a charging and communicationcoil 304, and so on. Examples are also contemplated in which the battery414 is removable, e.g., to be swapped with a removable battery of themobile client device 104.

Thus, the cursor control device 402 may also avail itself of thewireless charging, communication, and authentication techniquespreviously described. In this example, functionality of a cursor controldevice and an external power pack are combined into a single device,thereby reducing the number of devices managed by a user. Furtherdiscussion of these and other examples is contained in the followingsection.

Example Procedures

The following discussion describes mobile client device wirelesscharging, communication, and authentication techniques that may beimplemented utilizing the previously described systems and devices.Aspects of each of the procedures may be implemented in hardware,firmware, software, or a combination thereof. The procedures are shownas a set of blocks that specify operations performed by one or moredevices and are not necessarily limited to the orders shown forperforming the operations by the respective blocks. In portions of thefollowing discussion, reference will be made to the figures describedabove.

Functionality, features, and concepts described in relation to theexamples of FIGS. 1-4 may be employed in the context of the proceduresdescribed herein. Further, functionality, features, and conceptsdescribed in relation to different procedures below may be interchangedamong the different procedures and are not limited to implementation inthe context of an individual procedure. Moreover, blocks associated withdifferent representative procedures and corresponding figures herein maybe applied together and/or combined in different ways. Thus, individualfunctionality, features, and concepts described in relation to differentexample environments, devices, components, and procedures herein may beused in any suitable combinations and are not limited to the particularcombinations represented by the enumerated examples.

FIG. 5 depicts a procedure 500 in an example implementation in whichauthentication techniques are performed that leverage a wirelesselectromagnetic inductive connection. A detection is made by a wirelesscharging mat 106 that a mobile client device 104 has been placed at adistance proximal to a charging and communication coil 120 of thewireless charging mat 106 to achieve a communicative connection (block502). The wireless charging mat 106, for instance, may detect that thecharging and communication coil 122 of the mobile client device 104 isclose enough to the charging and communication coil 120 of the wirelesscharging mat 106 to communicate and/or receive power.

One or more credentials are obtained by the wireless charging mat 106from the mobile client device 104 that are usable to authenticate themobile client device 104 and responsive to the obtaining (block 504).The wireless charging mat 106 receives credentials 202 from the mobileclient device 104 via the electromagnetic inductive connection.

The one or more credentials are transferred by the wireless charging mat106 to the computing device 102 such that the computing device 102 isconfigured to authenticate the mobile client device 104 for operationwith the computing device 102 (block 506). The wireless charging mat106, for instance, may communicate the credentials 202 via a cable 128connected to the communication and power ports 114 for authentication bythe authentication module 204.

In an example, a user is logged into a corresponding user account of thecomputing device 102 responsive to successful authentication of the oneor more credentials by the computing device 102 (block 508). In thisway, the mobile client device 104 may be used to login a user withoutrequiring the user to manually interact with the computing device 102directly to perform the authentication.

In another example, the mobile client device 104 is permitted to receivepower from the wireless charging mat 106 responsive to successfulauthentication of the one or more credentials by the computing device102 (block 510). In this way, unauthorized devices are not permitted toreceive power. A variety of other examples are also contemplated.

Example System and Device

FIG. 6 illustrates an example system generally at 600 that includes anexample computing device 602 that is representative of one or morecomputing systems and/or devices that may implement the varioustechniques described herein (e.g., the mobile client device 104 and/orthe computing device 102), as illustrated through inclusion of thecharging and communication coil 122. The computing device 602 may be,for example, a server of a service provider, a device associated with aclient (e.g., a client device), an on-chip system, and/or any othersuitable computing device or computing system.

The example computing device 602 as illustrated includes a processingsystem 604, one or more computer-readable media 606, and one or more I/Ointerface 608 that are communicatively coupled, one to another. Althoughnot shown, the computing device 602 may further include a system bus orother data and command transfer system that couples the variouscomponents, one to another. A system bus can include any one orcombination of different bus structures, such as a memory bus or memorycontroller, a peripheral bus, a universal serial bus, and/or a processoror local bus that utilizes any of a variety of bus architectures. Avariety of other examples are also contemplated, such as control anddata lines.

The processing system 604 is representative of functionality to performone or more operations using hardware. Accordingly, the processingsystem 604 is illustrated as including hardware element 610 that may beconfigured as processors, functional blocks, and so forth. This mayinclude implementation in hardware as an application specific integratedcircuit or other logic device formed using one or more semiconductors.The hardware elements 610 are not limited by the materials from whichthey are formed or the processing mechanisms employed therein. Forexample, processors may be comprised of semiconductor(s) and/ortransistors (e.g., electronic integrated circuits (ICs)). In such acontext, processor-executable instructions may beelectronically-executable instructions.

The computer-readable storage media 606 is illustrated as includingmemory/storage 612. The memory/storage 612 represents memory/storagecapacity associated with one or more computer-readable media. Thememory/storage component 612 may include volatile media (such as randomaccess memory (RAM)) and/or nonvolatile media (such as read only memory(ROM), Flash memory, optical disks, magnetic disks, and so forth). Thememory/storage component 612 may include fixed media (e.g., RAM, ROM, afixed hard drive, and so on) as well as removable media (e.g., Flashmemory, a removable hard drive, an optical disc, and so forth). Thecomputer-readable media 606 may be configured in a variety of other waysas further described below.

Input/output interface(s) 608 are representative of functionality toallow a user to enter commands and information to computing device 602,and also allow information to be presented to the user and/or othercomponents or devices using various input/output devices. Examples ofinput devices include a keyboard, a cursor control device (e.g., amouse), a microphone, a scanner, touch functionality (e.g., capacitiveor other sensors that are configured to detect physical touch), a camera(e.g., which may employ visible or non-visible wavelengths such asinfrared frequencies to recognize movement as gestures that do notinvolve touch), and so forth. Examples of output devices include adisplay device (e.g., a monitor or projector), speakers, a printer, anetwork card, tactile-response device, and so forth. Thus, the computingdevice 602 may be configured in a variety of ways as further describedbelow to support user interaction.

Various techniques may be described herein in the general context ofsoftware, hardware elements, or program modules. Generally, such modulesinclude routines, programs, objects, elements, components, datastructures, and so forth that perform particular tasks or implementparticular abstract data types. The terms “module,” “functionality,” and“component” as used herein generally represent software, firmware,hardware, or a combination thereof. The features of the techniquesdescribed herein are platform-independent, meaning that the techniquesmay be implemented on a variety of commercial computing platforms havinga variety of processors.

An implementation of the described modules and techniques may be storedon or transmitted across some form of computer-readable media. Thecomputer-readable media may include a variety of media that may beaccessed by the computing device 602. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer-readable media may include “computer-readablestorage media” and “computer-readable signal media.”

“Computer-readable storage media” may refer to media and/or devices thatenable persistent and/or non-transitory storage of information incontrast to mere signal transmission, carrier waves, or signals per se.Thus, computer-readable storage media refers to non-signal bearingmedia. The computer-readable storage media includes hardware such asvolatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media and/orstorage devices implemented in a method or technology suitable forstorage of information such as computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules, logic elements/circuits, or other data.Examples of computer-readable storage media may include, but are notlimited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, harddisks, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or other storage device, tangible media, orarticle of manufacture suitable to store the desired information andwhich may be accessed by a computer.

“Computer-readable signal media” may refer to a signal-bearing mediumthat is configured to transmit instructions to the hardware of thecomputing device 602, such as via a network. Signal media typically mayembody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules,or other data in a modulated data signal, such as carrier waves, datasignals, or other transport mechanism. Signal media also include anyinformation delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example,and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as awired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such asacoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media.

As previously described, hardware elements 610 and computer-readablemedia 606 are representative of modules, programmable device logicand/or fixed device logic implemented in a hardware form that may beemployed in some embodiments to implement at least some aspects of thetechniques described herein, such as to perform one or moreinstructions. Hardware may include components of an integrated circuitor on-chip system, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), afield-programmable gate array (FPGA), a complex programmable logicdevice (CPLD), and other implementations in silicon or other hardware.In this context, hardware may operate as a processing device thatperforms program tasks defined by instructions and/or logic embodied bythe hardware as well as a hardware utilized to store instructions forexecution, e.g., the computer-readable storage media describedpreviously.

Combinations of the foregoing may also be employed to implement varioustechniques described herein. Accordingly, software, hardware, orexecutable modules may be implemented as one or more instructions and/orlogic embodied on some form of computer-readable storage media and/or byone or more hardware elements 610. The computing device 602 may beconfigured to implement particular instructions and/or functionscorresponding to the software and/or hardware modules. Accordingly,implementation of a module that is executable by the computing device602 as software may be achieved at least partially in hardware, e.g.,through use of computer-readable storage media and/or hardware elements610 of the processing system 604. The instructions and/or functions maybe executable/operable by one or more articles of manufacture (forexample, one or more computing devices 602 and/or processing systems604) to implement techniques, modules, and examples described herein.

As further illustrated in FIG. 6, the example system 600 enablesubiquitous environments for a seamless user experience when runningapplications on a personal computer (PC), a television device, and/or amobile device. Services and applications run substantially similar inall three environments for a common user experience when transitioningfrom one device to the next while utilizing an application, playing avideo game, watching a video, and so on.

In the example system 600, multiple devices are interconnected through acentral computing device. The central computing device may be local tothe multiple devices or may be located remotely from the multipledevices. In one embodiment, the central computing device may be a cloudof one or more server computers that are connected to the multipledevices through a network, the Internet, or other data communicationlink.

In one embodiment, this interconnection architecture enablesfunctionality to be delivered across multiple devices to provide acommon and seamless experience to a user of the multiple devices. Eachof the multiple devices may have different physical requirements andcapabilities, and the central computing device uses a platform to enablethe delivery of an experience to the device that is both tailored to thedevice and yet common to all devices. In one embodiment, a class oftarget devices is created and experiences are tailored to the genericclass of devices. A class of devices may be defined by physicalfeatures, types of usage, or other common characteristics of thedevices.

In various implementations, the computing device 602 may assume avariety of different configurations, such as for computer 614, mobile616, and television 618 uses. Each of these configurations includesdevices that may have generally different constructs and capabilities,and thus the computing device 602 may be configured according to one ormore of the different device classes. For instance, the computing device602 may be implemented as the computer 614 class of a device thatincludes a personal computer, desktop computer, a multi-screen computer,laptop computer, netbook, and so on.

The computing device 602 may also be implemented as the mobile 616 classof device that includes mobile devices, such as a mobile phone, portablemusic player, portable gaming device, a tablet computer, a multi-screencomputer, and so on. The computing device 602 may also be implemented asthe television 618 class of device that includes devices having orconnected to generally larger screens in casual viewing environments.These devices include televisions, set-top boxes, gaming consoles, andso on.

The techniques described herein may be supported by these variousconfigurations of the computing device 602 and are not limited to thespecific examples of the techniques described herein. This functionalitymay also be implemented all or in part through use of a distributedsystem, such as over a “cloud” 620 via a platform 622 as describedbelow.

The cloud 620 includes and/or is representative of a platform 622 forresources 624. The platform 622 abstracts underlying functionality ofhardware (e.g., servers) and software resources of the cloud 620. Theresources 624 may include applications and/or data that can be utilizedwhile computer processing is executed on servers that are remote fromthe computing device 602. Resources 624 can also include servicesprovided over the Internet and/or through a subscriber network, such asa cellular or Wi-Fi network.

The platform 622 may abstract resources and functions to connect thecomputing device 602 with other computing devices. The platform 622 mayalso serve to abstract scaling of resources to provide a correspondinglevel of scale to encountered demand for the resources 624 that areimplemented via the platform 622. Accordingly, in an interconnecteddevice embodiment, implementation of functionality described herein maybe distributed throughout the system 600. For example, the functionalitymay be implemented in part on the computing device 602 as well as viathe platform 622 that abstracts the functionality of the cloud 620.

CONCLUSION AND EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATIONS

Example implementations described herein include, but are not limitedto, one or any combinations of one or more of the following examples:

Mobile client device wireless charging, communication, andauthentication techniques are described. In one or more examples, acursor control device includes an external housing configured to begrasped by a hand of a user and an input device module disposed withinthe housing configured to control movement of a cursor of a computingdevice that is communicatively coupled to the input device module. Thecursor control device also includes one or more buttons accessible viathe external housing that are configured to support user interaction toprovide inputs to the computing device, a battery disposed within theexternal housing, and a power port disposed on the external housing andconfigured to charge an external device using power obtained from thebattery disposed within the housing.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the power port is configured in accordance witha Universal Serial Bus (USB).

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the input device module is configured to detectrelative two dimensional movement in relation to a surface that is usedto control the movement of the cursor.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the battery is configured to store at least 2000mAh.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the battery is physically removable from theexternal housing.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the physically removable battery, once removed,is configured to form a physical and electrical coupling throughinstallation as part of a mobile phone.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, further comprising an electromagnetic inductive coildisposed within the external housing that is configured to charge thebattery using an external source.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the input device module is further configured tocommunicate with the communication device over a wireless connection.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, further comprising one or more cables formed as anintegral part of the power port that are configured to directly connectto the external device.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the external device is a mobile phone or tablet.

In one or more examples, an apparatus includes a substrate, at least onecable configured to obtain power from an external power source, and anelectromagnetic inductive coil formed integrally as part of thesubstrate, the electromagnetic inductive coil configured to form awireless coupling with an external device suitable to communicate withthe external device and to charge a battery of the external device usingthe power obtained from the external power source.

An apparatus as described in claim 11, wherein the wireless coupling isconfigured to support communication between the external device and acomputing device, to which, the at least cable is connected.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the communication includes authentication of theexternal device with the computing device that is suitable to login auser to the computing device or authorize the external device to receivepower.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, further comprising a battery electrically coupled to theelectromagnetic inductive coil and sized to provide power to theexternal device via the electromagnetic inductive coil in an amountsufficient to at least partially charge a battery of the externaldevice.

An apparatus as described in claim 11, wherein the at least one cable isconfigured to also form a communicative coupling with the computingdevice and the external device is a mobile phone.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the mobile phone is communicatively coupled tothe computing device to act as a cursor control device to control acursor of the computing device.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, wherein the mobile phone is installed in a mobile clientdevice cradle having a charging and communication coil configured tosupport the electrical connection with the electromagnetic inductivecoil and includes an input device module configured to detect lateralmovement that is used as a basis to control the cursor.

In one or more examples, a method includes detecting by a wirelesscharging mat that a mobile client device has been placed at a distanceproximal to a charging and communication coil of the wireless chargingmat to achieve a communicative connection. The method also includesobtaining one or more credentials by the wireless charging mat from themobile client device that are usable to authenticate the mobile clientdevice and responsive to the obtaining, transferring the one or morecredentials by the wireless charging mat to the computing device suchthat the computing device is configured to authenticate the mobileclient device for operation with the computing device.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, further comprising logging a user into a correspondinguser account of the computing device responsive to successfulauthentication of the one or more credentials by the computing device.

An example as described alone or in combination with any of the above orbelow examples, further comprising permitting the mobile client deviceto receive poser from the wireless charging mat responsive to successfulauthentication of the one or more credentials by the computing device.

Although the example implementations have been described in languagespecific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to beunderstood that the implementations defined in the appended claims isnot necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described.Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as example forms ofimplementing the claimed features.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a substrate; at leastone cable configured to obtain power from a computing device usable asan external power source to power the apparatus; and an electromagneticinductive coil formed integrally as part of the substrate, theelectromagnetic inductive coil configured to form a wireless couplingwith an external device, the wireless coupling of the electromagneticinductive coil suitable to communicate with the external device and tocharge a battery of the external device using the power obtained fromthe external power source, the wireless coupling configured to supportcommunication between the external device and the computing device viathe apparatus; wherein the wireless coupling formed between theelectromagnetic inductive coil and the external device is configured toenable communication between the external device and the computingdevice such that the external device acts as a cursor control device tocontrol a cursor of the computing device.
 2. An apparatus as describedin claim 1, wherein the communication includes authentication of theexternal device to the computing device, the authentication of theexternal device suitable to at least one of login a user to thecomputing device and authorize the external device to receive power. 3.An apparatus as described in claim 1, further comprising a batteryelectrically coupled to the electromagnetic inductive coil and sized toprovide power to the external device via the electromagnetic inductivecoil in an amount sufficient to at least partially charge a battery ofthe external device.
 4. An apparatus as described in claim 1, whereinthe at least one cable is configured to form a communicative couplingbetween the computing device and the apparatus, and wherein the externaldevice is a mobile phone.
 5. An apparatus as described in claim 4,wherein the mobile phone is installed in a mobile client device cradlehaving a charging and communication coil configured to support anelectrical connection with the electromagnetic inductive coil of theapparatus, and wherein the mobile client device cradle includes an inputdevice module configured to detect lateral movement that is used as abasis to control the cursor.
 6. A method performed by a wirelesscharging mat comprising: detecting that a mobile client device has beenplaced at a distance proximal to a charging and communication coil ofthe wireless charging mat to achieve a communicative connection;obtaining, via the charging and communication coil, one or morecredentials from the mobile client device that are usable toauthenticate the mobile client device; responsive to the obtaining,transferring the one or more credentials to a computing device such thatthe computing device is configured to authenticate the mobile clientdevice for operation with the computing device; and communicativelycoupling the mobile client device to the computing device via thecharging and communication coil to enable controlling movement of acursor and selection inputs of the computing device via the mobileclient device.
 7. A method as described in claim 6, further comprisingproviding the one or more credentials to login a user into acorresponding user account of the computing device responsive tosuccessful authentication of the one or more credentials by thecomputing device.
 8. A method as described in claim 6, furthercomprising providing power to the mobile client device via the wirelesscharging mat responsive to successful authentication of the one or morecredentials by the computing device.
 9. A method as described in claim6, wherein the wireless charging mat is communicatively coupled to thecomputing device via a cable, the cable being utilized for thetransferring of the one or more credentials to the computing device. 10.An apparatus as described in claim 4, wherein the mobile phone iscommunicatively coupled to the computing device to output a userinterface on a display of the mobile phone.
 11. An apparatus comprising:a substrate; a charging and communication coil formed integrally as partof the substrate, the charging and communication coil configured to:detect that a mobile client device has been placed at a distanceproximal to the charging and communication coil to achieve acommunicative connection; obtain one or more credentials from the mobileclient device that are usable to authenticate the mobile client device;and transfer the one or more credentials to a computing device toauthenticate the mobile client device via the computing device foroperation with the computing device; wherein the charging andcommunication coil is further configured to communicatively couple themobile client device to the computing device to output a user interfaceon a display of the mobile client device through which movement of acursor and selection inputs of the computing device can be controlled.12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the charging and communicationcoil is an electromagnetic inductive coil.
 13. The apparatus of claim11, wherein the charging and communication coil is configured to obtainthe one or more credentials via an electromagnetic inductive connection.14. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising one or morecommunication and power ports, wherein the apparatus is connected via atleast one of the one or more communication and power ports to thecomputing device.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at leastone of the one or more communication and power ports is connected to thecomputing device via a cable.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein thecharging and communication coil is configured to create an alternatingelectromagnetic field that is transformed by a charging andcommunication coil of the mobile client device into an electricalcurrent.
 17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the charging andcommunication coil is further configured to provide the one or morecredentials to login a user into a corresponding user account of thecomputing device responsive to successful authentication of the one ormore credentials by the computing device.
 18. The apparatus of claim 11,wherein the charging and communication coil is further configured toprovide power to the mobile client device responsive to successfulauthentication of the one or more credentials by the computing device.